Skagit County Jail Project - Permitting Process

Mount Vernon City Council Public Hearing Notice:

The City Council held a public hearing on April 22, 2014 at 7 pm to discuss the jail Comprehensive Plan Amendment requests and associated rezones. The Hearing was held at the Police/Court Campus, 1805 Continental Place. Click here to view the Public Hearing Notice.

Final Environmental Impact Statement Released:

On March 3, 2014 the Final EIS for the Skagit County Jail was released. The Final EIS includes responses to comments received during the Draft EIS comment period and additions, corrections, and clarifications to the Draft EIS.

Please scroll down to view information and documents regarding the Draft EIS.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Released:

On December 18, 2013 the DEIS for the Skagit County Jail was released. Comments on this document (and its associated appendices) will be taken until January 16, 2014.

In addition, a public hearing was held on Thursday, January 9, 2014 at the Skagit County Administrative Building. The open house began at 3 p.m. and was followed by a brief presentation, with the hearing from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Skagit County applied to change the land use designations at two different sites in Mount Vernon to potentially locate a new jail and associated support facilities.

The County anticipates this new facility (that they are calling their “Skagit County Community Justice Center”) will initially have 400 beds and would be 100,000 square feet in size. However, the County has indicated that they are planning for future growth of this facility of up to approximately 800 beds and 165,000 square feet in size.

Procedurally the following processes will be completed before construction commences on one of the two potential jail sites:

There has been many opportunities for the public to obtain information and comment on the two (2) proposed jail sites. Following is general information on each of the sites as well as the steps that will be necessary in the permitting process. Click here for a copy of the anticipated permitting schedule.

An open record public hearing before the City's Planning Commission took place on March 18, 2014.

The two sites that the County has chosen as possible locations for a new jail facility in Mount Vernon are both located on commercially zoned land. Procedurally, the SEPA process will need to be completed, the land use designation of one of these sites will need to be changed to "Public", and the EPF process will need to be completed before construction of the new jail can commence.

The first site under consideration is commonly called the ‘Alf Christenson’ site because it is the historic Alf Christenson seed processing location. This approximate 9-acre site is bound by Kincaid Street to the north, I-5 to the east, and the railroad tracks to the west. View a copy of the Notice of Application for this site.

The second site is commonly called the ‘Truck City’ site , also due to its location, partly on the Truck City property. This approximate 10.4-acre site is bound by Old Highway 99 to the west, I-5 is offsite to the east, with McFarland Lane offsite to the north of the site, and Suzanne Lane to the south. View a copy of the Notice of Application for this site.